Writing about and photographing my family's adventures in the great outdoors of Northwest Pennsylvania.

Thursday, June 20, 2013

It's just a phase...

It's just a phase...

If I had a nickle for every time I've uttered that phrase in the last 3 years, I'd have the boys' college fund nearly complete. While it's hard to keep this kind of perspective in the heat of the moment, those four little words are some of the truest words a parent can keep in mind.

The first time Robert went to my uncle's cabin, he had just turned 5 and he'd barely make it 50 feet away from the cabin before he turned and ran back to us on the porch. Last month Robert and Aiden played all over the backyard and even went exploring a short distance down one of the trails on their own.

In December Aiden got his first "big-boy bed." Now in a toddler bed it was far easier for him to get out, so he never wanted to stay in bed. After 5 months of me lying on the floor next to the bed until he fell asleep, he now goes to bed on his own after telling me "night, night" and asking me to shut his door.

It's crazy how fast kids change. It's also one of the scariest things for a responsible parent. We so often over analyze each behavior, each action, and stress that we are creating a bad habit when we let this go on. Yet a few short months down the road and that little behavior turned out to be nothing, and yet another behavior has risen to take its place as the concern du jour.

I guess that's what good parenting is though, right? You want the best for your kids. You want them to grow up without pain. You also realize that as a parent, you're charged with preparing them for the real world. The real world is full of challenges and heartache. Your stress over the little things, while still allowing them to grow, succeed, and fail, is what makes you a good parent. And by extension will make your children successful members of society.

If I accomplish nothing else with this life, my goal will always be to raise two successful, and fiercely independent men. Who, with any luck, will know the complete joy of being a father.